Thread by @michaelharriot

There's something very misleading about this graphic that is very important to black lives and shows the importance of black media and journalists.

Thread:

https://twitter.com/MSNBC/status/1273257724311199744

Most of the reports you read about police killings come from major outlets.

Most of the stuff you read about police killings is a lie.

There are people at some of those outlets like @WesleyLowery, who has a thing called the Pulitzer prize for reporting on Ferguson but...

For the most part, unless there is a big uproar, here's how almost every police shooting is reported:

"Officer X encountered Thug Y. Thug Y pointed a gun at Officer X and Officer X died."

Most major news organizations take pride in reporting without bias.

Black journalist knows that "without bias" translates to "from the white perspective."

Everyone is biased. Everyone's perspective is informed by the cumulative knowledge and experience. But because there are more white people, their perspective is often considered "unbiased."

Here's the thing about policing: Even if they haven't been shot by the police, black ppl are 2.5 times more likely to be stopped and 4 times more likely to be searched than white drivers but white drivers were more likely to have contraband.

openpolicing.stanford.edu

Black people are 4 times more likely to be convicted of a crime they didn't commit and more likely to be INTENTIONALY framed.

Police are twice as likely to use force on black people versus white suspects, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics.

law.umich.edu/special/exoner…

Because of these frequent interactions, black people know one thing:

Police officers be lying.

Seriously. Police officers lie on police reports ALL the time.

I know what you're thinking

"What does that have to do with police killings, journalism MSNBC? Get to the point, nigga!"

Well, when you read most of the initial reports about police killings, they come from actual police reports.

And because newsrooms are filled with privileged white kids who could afford to work for free (After 1865 white people started calling this an "internship") they are more likely to take police officers' words for everything.

Take George Floyd for instance...

Remember the police report said he just suddenly stopped breathing and died at the hospital.

In fact, instead of doing 20 more tweets about this, you can watch me break down this phenomenon here:

My point is, that we don't know what the real story is because we get our news from a white perspective — not UNBIASED. Just white.

Now back to that Tweet from MSNBC

As I mentioned before, I've reported on @TimScottSC efforts to pass the Walter Scott Notification Act for years

Basically, for years, Scott has been trying to get police depts. to report police killing data including race, weapon used, etc.

No one would pass it, even when he tried to slide in legislation

Why?

Let's set aside politics for a sec...

It's because white people trust police

Now, anyone who has known me for even a few minutes knows that I'm not exactly a big fan of the GOP. Still, anyone who knows me will also tell you that I am not one of those people who believe the Democratic Party is infallible. If I categorized myself, I'd say this:

I'm black.

And because I'm black, I don't trust ANY white person who tries to explain what's good for me. ESPECIALLY when I can look it up myself.

So what's up with that MSNBC tweet?

Well, first, I'm gonna make you mad because its not time yet.

First, let me tell you why Congress hasn't passed a law against chokeholds or no-knock warrants...

Because they can't.

See, there's this thing called the Constitution. And the Constitution has this thing called the Bill of Rights.

The Bill of Rights is basically the first 10 amendments. Now the 10th Amendment basically says if something is not specifically spelled out in the Constitution, it's up to a state to declare it illegal.

law.cornell.edu/constitution/t….

OK, now here's why that MSNBC tweet is misleading:

(Here it is again, in case you didn't see it)

See the Democrats ban chokehold while Scott's bill "disincentivizes chokeholds"

The Democrats' bill would have stopped Derek Chauvin, right? It would have kept Breonna Taylor alive

Well, not actually.

See the Democratic Bill bans chokeholds for FEDERAL OFFICERS, not state and local officers. First of all, I stay fresh as hell because I know the feds are watching.. But they aint' choking people. That's local officers.

Secondly,

There's a good reason that the Dems didn't ban chokehold by local and state officers

Because they can't.

It's that goddamned 10th Amendment (Which is also why Congress can't unilaterally declare marijuana legal. They can only RESCHEDULE it)

And this is not the Dems fault. This is the CONSTITUTION's fault.

But it is also disingenuous of news outlets to say one bill bans chokehold and the other doesn't because, here's the thing:

It is true that the GOP bill will give more money to police departments.

The Dems just want them to buy body cameras, take deescalation training and

have civilian review boards... which is also in the GOP proposal.

Now, how are state and local agencies suppose to do that??

With the money that's already provided to police departments.

But what about defunding police?

Well, the Democrats actually have a plan for that.

They want to withhold up to 10% of federal grant money from agencies that don't implement these reforms. I know it sounds wimpy, but what else can they do? It's the only mechanism they have.

The Walter Scott Notification Act withholds 20% of federal funds

AS for real reform, I think neither of these bills go far enough.

I'm writing a whole thing on it tomorrow (which is why I actually read the shit.)

But it's interesting to note that the heart of both bills come from the Walter Scott Notification Act and BOTH sides have fought against MOST of these reforms for years.

But that tweet, though is misleading.

It probably came from a police report.